CAVA — Restaurant in Hampton

Came to this cava out of desperation, I was hungry and not much else was open to my liking. I love cava, but I had never been to this location before but never had an issue with any other locations, when pulling up to this cava I felt a shimmer of hope, I would finally escape this misery I call a life for a few moments with a tasty Mediterranean bowl, how foolish I was...

Upon arrival on the scene I entered the cava to see it mostly deserted of customers, I waited in line as the only customer in the store for about 5 minutes while the employees scrambled around with togo orders looking a little confused. When the worker approached me asking what I would like to order I had bad feeling, usually the cava workers have a intense sexual like desire to make my bowl perfect & fast, this worker did NOT match that energy, usually at this point at ANY other cava I would be maintaining a painful erection, but this visit, I was painfully flaccid. Moving down the line I was disappointed yet again to find they didn't have my beloved garlic sauce, I requested my beloved pita chips, I wont be able to sleep at night if I don't get some pita chips whenever I go to cava, upon my first bite I noticed there was something wrong with these chips, after inspection I noted the chips had no seasoning? Next I wanted to try there homemade drinks they always have, NOPE the worker already put them away since they were closing soon. At this point I was so shocked by this mistreatment I went to the bathroom to vomit, upon entering I noticed, the bathroom smelled like someone died in there! and there was a homeless guy sitting on the toilet sleeping or something, I didn't want to disturb him, he probably had a similar experience to me, so i went to the nextdoor bathroom.

After leaving I noted the lettuce was off, Im not sure what was wrong with it but it definitely was not fresh like usual, the chicken was pretty dry aswell, again this mf did not season the pita chips like dawg come on. Also ended up waiting like 15 minutes when I was literally the only person in the store at first.

Food is a 2/5, still not horrible but not up to standard Atmosphere is a 1, again NO sexual tension like usual, I was not bricked up for a second inside this restaurant that is a travesty. Service is a 2, seemed like the workers were high or something the took forever and did not seem to care...

I come to this location a lot and I’m currently here at the location waiting on steak to cook…..of which I was told would take 8 minutes. I’ve watched the person in the kitchen sweep and put a few things away while waiting on my bowl to add steak to. 8 minutes has passed and he just now put steak on the grill. He has a small beard and clearly hates his life and job, luckily the lady with the blue head wrap asked him to put the steak on the grill due to me clearly standing here waiting. He continued to finish sweeping the entire kitchen before attempting anything. He doesn’t have a name tag on or i would definitely call him out. Not sure who’s hiring people who clearly don’t want to work here but DO BETTER. Ain’t nothing cheap about Cava so standing here 20 minutes for steak to cook is something I will do since I’m paying for it but waiting 20 minutes for a quick bowl that normally takes 5 minutes to make is insane. I’ll go to Newport News location from now on.

Update: they gave my meal for free but dude still needs to get it together...

I have diabetes and it can sometimes be overwhelming to try to find quick and easy options when I’m out and about that will satisfy my hunger without blowing up my blood sugar, but I found that with Cava! I can’t do white rice (and I don’t like the texture of brown rice) so the fact that Cava offers lentils as a base option is absolutely lifesaving! The tzatziki is a low-carb option, their grilled chicken is lean and sooo flavorful, and they have an incredible amount of fresh veggie options to top it all off! What’s more, the cava website has a very comprehensive nutrition information chart, so it’s super easy to see what other combinations I can try while being conscious of my carb intake! This food is so delicious, it doesn’t even feel like I’m missing out. For days when I just can’t seem to figure out what diabetic-friendly meals to make at home, Cava has my back! I’ll finish up by saying that this Peninsula Town Center location cooks the lentils right! Other stores sometimes undercook them which can lead to them being a bit on the...